Del. Bobby Orrock

Authorizes the governing body of any locality to adopt an ordinance restricting the tethering of a dog outdoors. The ordinance may limit the maximum number of hours or the weather conditions during which the dog may remain tethered but shall not restrict normal hunting or agricultural activities. The bill provides that its provisions shall not repeal, amend, impair, or affect any tethering ordinance adopted prior to July 1, 2018.

Creates the Henrietta Lacks Commission to establish through a public-private partnership the Henrietta Lacks Life Sciences Center in Halifax County as a cancer research and treatment center designed to (i) transform and accelerate cancer research and treatment through the use of biodata tools, (ii) provide tailored cancer treatment medicine to an underserved portion of rural Southside Virginia, and (iii) incubate new biotech businesses across the Southside Virginia region. The bill requires the Commission to annually submit a report on its interim activity and work to the Governor and General Assembly. The bill has an expiration date of July 1, 2021.

Authorizes any local governing body to adopt an ordinance that requires any pet shop selling dogs procured from outside the Commonwealth to furnish a bond of at least $5,000 if it maintains for sale an average of 50 or fewer dogs per year and not more than $30,000 if it maintains for sale an average of 51 or more dogs per year. The bill authorizes such a locality to reduce or waive the bond requirement at its discretion and to terminate the bond requirement for a pet shop that has operated without interruption for 10 years without having its bond called by the locality. The bill provides that if a pet shop ceases business operations, the locality shall have the right to call the bond and utilize the resulting funds as necessary to protect the welfare of the animals or fish from the shop.

Requires each hospital to establish a protocol requiring that, before a health care provider arranges for air medical transportation services for a patient who does not have an emergency medical condition, the hospital provide the patient or his authorized representative with written or electronic notice that the patient (i) may have a choice of transportation by an air medical transportation provider or medically appropriate ground transportation by an emergency medical services provider and (ii) will be responsible for charges incurred for such transportation in the event that the provider is not a contracted network provider of the patient's health insurance carrier or such charges are not otherwise covered in full or in part by the patient's health insurance plan. The provisions of such requirement become effective on March 1, 2019. The bill directs the Office of Emergency Medical Services to develop a mechanism no later than January 1, 2019, to disclose to a patient, prior to services provided by an out-of-network air transport provider, a good faith estimate of the range of typical charges for out-of-network air transport services provided in that geographic area.

Amends the definition of "pet shop" and requires any pet shop that sells dogs to post a notice stating that USDA APHIS Inspection Reports are available prior to purchase. The bill requires the shop to (i) maintain a written record containing such reports and other detailed information about each dog, (ii) make the record available to purchasers and other parties, (iii) maintain the record for two years after selling a dog, and (iv) transmit certain information to the Office of the State Veterinarian on a schedule established by that office.